Feb 9, 2012

Be still my chocolate loving heart, a moist chocolate cake made from scratch with only three tablespoons of oil in the entire cake! Top this with some chocolate syrup and fresh raspberries and oh my, what a chocolate dessert!

I've been experimenting making a cake from scratch with less fat for a few days now and after a few rounds I finally got it to where my taste testers (aka husband and friends) all thought it was great and couldn't believe it was light.

My secret? There's pudding, yogurt and applesauce in the mix!

This recipe was created for those of you who like to make their cakes from scratch, but if you prefer a quicker method by using a box cake mix as an ingredient, see my Super Moist Low Fat Chocolate Cupcake recipe.

This cake rises beautifully and the coffee brings out the flavor of the chocolate. Will it work without the pudding? Yes, however the texture will change and you'll need to increase the sugar. Can you use less oil? Yes, but I've already cut out more than half, and using less will work, but the texture will be drier.

I made this in a 13 x 9-inch pan and used a heart cookie cutter to cut out hearts, but you can make this into 24 cupcakes, a bundt cake or 2 rounds. Hope you enjoy!

190 comments
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Gina, I need to make cupcakes with a chocolate design sticking out of the the brownie. Do you just melt chocolate (no adding butter or cream?), place it in a piping bag and pipe it onto wax paper and let it cool? I cant figure out how to do a search because I dont know what im trying to ask... but you get me right? lol

you can just melt the chocloate in the microwave. coating chocolate works best (not choc chips or hershey or anything like that!). when its melted put it in a piping bag with a small adapter on the end or just put it in a ziplock bag and cut one of the corners out of the bag to squeeze the chocolate out. you can squeeze the chocolate out to make whatever shapes you want onto wax paper. let them cool but dont put it into the fridge cuz that will make the choc look dull and not shiny.

Monique, yes you melt the chocolate, pour it into a small piping bag with a small hole cut out and pipe it onto wax paper making any shape you like. The refrigerate until hard. If yuoou mes up, simply remelt and do it again.

d.liff- Sure! You may need to use 2 pans depending on the size of your pan.

You can't even taste the coffee when you bake with it. It just enhances the chocolate flavor. I ALWAYS add some coffee to my chocolate dessert items and it make the chocolate SO much richer. Give it a try! You won't even know it's coffee!

You don't taste the coffee, it just brings out the taste of the chocolate. You can buy a cup of black coffee at McDonald's or Starbucks if you don't normally drink it. If you really insist on not, using it, I guess just boil water.

I've not tried this with whole wheat pastry flour, if you do let me know how it turns out.

I personally don't use Splenda, so I am not sure how it would effect the cake. Maybe the Splenda baking blend would be best.

You don't taste the coffee, it just brings out the taste of the chocolate. You can buy a cup of black coffee at McDonald's or Starbucks if you don't normally drink it. If you really insist on not, using it, I guess just boil water.

I've not tried this with whole wheat pastry flour, if you do let me know how it turns out.

I personally don't use Splenda, so I am not sure how it would effect the cake. Maybe the Splenda baking blend would be best.

This is wonderful, Gina. I'm making Spaghetti Carbonara for our V-Day dinner, and it's nice to know that we can have a yummy chocolate dessert that won't be quite so calorie-dense. We CAN have our cake and eat it too :)

This is so timely! I just asked my daughter yesterday what cake she would like for her birthday which is the day after Valentine's Day. She told me "something chocolate with raspberries". Thank you, Gina!

This is actually how I know Cheesecake (I'm from Germany, the cheesecake is a little different here) You just use vanilla pudding powder instead of chocolate and the joghurt is a little different too, but that's just because of the different products in different countries i guess.

Gina! I made this last night, it was a huge hit with the hubby, thank you! I didn't have cocoa powder on hand so I used unsweetened baking chocolate squares, and it turned out perfectly, so moist and flavorful!

About the coffee, when I tasted the batter I could taste the coffee, but after it cooked you couldn't taste it at all. Thanks again!

Oh this looks SOOO good! I am going to make this on Sunday - so I can take it into the office on Monday (of course we will try a little bit before then). Nice to taste, not good for me (or hubby) to have too much around - even if it is the skinny version.Thanks so much for sharing!

This cake turned out sooo delicious & so very very moist! I only made two substitutes 1) coconut oil for canola & 2) almond milk for fat free milk. I wasn't sure what size instant pudding box so I bought the smallest one & it turned out perfect. I drizzled your chocolate glaze & the same glaze but without chocolate over the entire cake. My kids all raved over it. Thank you for your hard work in putting together such great recipes! We've tried so many & loved all of them!

I'm new to baking....so sorry if I'm asking stupid questions. For cake flour - is that bleached or unbleached? I saw the two kinds in the grocery store and I wasn't sure which be to use. Also, is the instant pudding mix...just the jello kind? Thank You.

I made this last night - FANTASTIC! It was moist, loved the texture, sort of fudgy-like. It was a hit - hubby loved as well as myself and two 7 year old boys. Love that I can work this into my WW plan, plus feel good about serving it to my family as there's no junk in it like splenda or something artificial. Thank you for an awesomely chocolate recipe!

I can't wait to try this. I'm so excited about your site, I heard about you at my WW meeting and you're my new favorite! Even if I wasn't struggling to stay in my points, I'd love your recipes! Thanks!

I just made this cake for my family and they LOVE IT!!!! I did put whipped peanut butter fluff frosting on it and I must say this is the best chocolate cake recipe I have ever made. Will definitely be making it again...

My son and I made this into cupcakes last night as a Valentine's for his dad. They are light, moist and absolutely delicious! The best chocolate cake I've ever made! (By the way, I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for half of the flour, and you can't tell at all.)

i have a flour called flaky crust flour for cookies and pie, (i live near a Amish dry good store, thats why i have a strange flour:) wondered if i could use that and also u prolly didn't add the choc. topping pts. in, right? thanks joanan

Would a regular hand mixer work (not the one for soups or blender, but the type you stick to parts to the bottom and select slow medium and so on work? ) I dont have a stand mixer???? I want to make tomorrow.

Oh. My. God. This is the most amazing thing EVAR! We host a Bible study at our house on Tuesday nights and I made the cake last night. Tonight I'll do the presentation part. I melted down some Nestle Toll House Semi Sweet Chunks, put it in a pastry bag, and wrote each person's name in the chocolate. I put it in the freezer to harden. They turned out beautiful!!

I made this cake over the weekend and I had to add how delicious it is! Very fudgy, good chocolate flavor. Topped with a little whipped cream or nothing at all it's fabulous. I don't have a stand mixer and my hand mixer is currently not working; so I mixed by hand with a whisk - it came out great. I think this will be my go-to chocolate birthday cake recipe! Thanks so much for this site - I've lost 100 pounds on WW and finding sites like this makes my day!!!! :)

Ok, so I made this today for our V-Day dessert! It was yummy but really dense and "thick" I don't know if I did something wrong or if that is how it was supposed to look and/or feel. It wasn't like a normal cake to me. We still loved the flavor however I would love your feedback!

I have made this twice already. It is the BOMB!!!! As usual the recipe was easy to follow, delicious and turned out absolutely beautiful. I used heart cutters as well to make Valentine cakes. Poked a little ghiradelle chocolate chip inside of each raspberry and drizzled with a little bit of dark chocolate syrup. MMMMMMMMM. Thanks again

OMGOSH.... Gina I don't know how you do it but this was the most amazing cake. I made it yesterday and I think I'm going to have to throw it in the garbage or risk me eating all the leftovers today. The cake is so moist it doesn't even need frosting. I love it!

I don't drink coffee and I couldn't taste the coffee in it. I do know from baking with other recipes that the coffee just enhances the chocolate to a deeper level.

this was delicious!!!!!!! My grocery store was out of plain Chobani yogurt so I substituted for the black cherry flavor and it was great! Thanks Gina for all of your amazing recipes! I've lost 9lbs already and look foreward to losing more with your help.

This is the best chocolate cake I have ever made - so moist and wonderful chocolate flavor. For those asking about cake flour - I was taught many years ago that you can substitute 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour, sifted, for 1 cup of cake flour. This is what I did yesterday - the cake turned out perfectly.

Both my husband and I are on WW...am pleased about the low points but might be too much cake overall for two of us. Don't want to use up all my points on cake but also don't want it to go stale before we can eat it all. So...can this be cut in half?

OMG SO DELICIOUS! I made it in a large heart pan for Valentine's Day and we at the entire thing in 3 days. The moistest, tastiest chocolate cake I've ever had. And for those who are scared of the coffee, you cannot taste it - I swear! It's simply to make it moist and bring out the chocolate flavor.

Is there a reason why you don't use sugar free choc. pudding? Hubby is a diabetic & to me SF pudding is delicious & I was wondering about using Splenda instead of sugar. Those are the only 2 changes I would like to make....has anyone else tried it this way??

One package of instant chocolate pudding - how much is that exactly.. I live in Denmark and the packages here might not be the same as yours.. Could you tell me how many grams is in one package? Thank you :)

Um this was THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE I HAVE EVER HAD!!!!!!!!!!!! I drizzled some chocolate syrup over it, PERFECTION. Icing would have ruined it! Totally indulged one night and had it with a scoop of Breyers fat free vanilla ice cream and some fresh strawberries. FANTASTIC. I'll never make another chocolate cake again.

I'm not quite sure what I did wrong or if it's my oven or what but mine would not bake threw. I seriously had it in the over for an hour and a half and when I inserted a toothpic (several actually, lol) they all still came out with batter on them. I'm dissapointed because my kitchens a mess and I still don't have a cake! :/

Made this yesterday for my mother-in-law's birthday. I made a half recipe and baked in an 8x8 inch pan. I ended up baking it for about 32 minutes. It was sooo moist and the chocolate flavor was spot on. Completely delicious. My MIL is on Weight Watchers and loved that it was only 4 points. Thanks for a great recipe! It is a keeper.

I came across your website while searching for a weight watchers friendly dessert to bring to a friend's home tonight (she started WW a few weeks ago). I just put it in the oven. If the finished product tastes as good as the raw batter did, it's going to be amazing!

Made this for a family party and EVERYONE (young and old) licked their plate clean and begged for more. They refused to believe it only had 2 grams of fat... It. Was. So. Good! We are not coffee drinkers so I used Pero (similar to Postum) and it was perfect. Drizzled raspberry and chocolate sauce over the plate, topped the cake with FF whipped cream and a fresh raspberry. Picture perfect! Thank you for your hard work to bring us such quality recipes! YUMMY!

Hi Gina-Your recipes rock I've made so many for me and the family and they love everything. I've looked in three supermarkets and can not find cake flour, can i use all purpose??Please help it is my hubbys birthday and I want to make for him...

This is the lightest, fluffiest cake I've ever made - mine are usually really heavy and unrisen! Just eaten a piece drizzled with (skinny) dulche de leche - ok so I know that takes away from the skinny status somewhat but it was a good combination! Great recipe, thanks!

I made this last night for my mom's birthday cake! UN-BE-LIEVABLE!!!!! Seriously! I'm so impressed with this and my family was drooling for more! I had a container of betty crocker vanilla frosting laying around, so i iced the whole outside with that, but used two round cakes, and melted chocolate frosting in between the layers. It is to-die for. Honestly, THANK YOU! This one's definitely a keeper!

To say I hate coffee would be a bit of an understatement, so I was very dubious about putting it in a cake. I decided to bite the bullet in the end - I figured I could just give the cupcakes away to friends, if it came to that - but to my surprise, I cannot taste even a hint of coffee in there. The cupcakes are awesome, some of the best I've ever had! Thanks Gina!!

Hi. I have been LOVING your recipes. I have spent the last several days looking at them and making menus. Thanks!I am curious, for this recipe, what size package of Instant Pudding should I use?Also, in regards to the coffee debate, I have used hot chocolate in place of coffee for baking recipes and had good success.

OH MY!! Best chocolate cake I've EVER MADE. I made it for my delayed birthday dinner this weekend, and it was SO worth the wait. I had made chocolate lava cake for my birthday and then had to forego it once I calculated fat and calories. This dessert was my triumphant reward. Topped it with fat-free caramel and fresh raspberries....I must confess that I licked the plate when no one was looking - it was that good!

Definitely use the hot coffee- I hate coffee but it adds a certain something to the dish that you won't want to miss.

I agree, one of the best chocolate cakes ever, as is very chocolatey and fudgy and so moist!! I made the recipe into 12 very large cupcakes (might do 16 smaller ones next time) and used greased paper liners (as very little oil in this recipe). I did not have instant pudding, so used what I had on hand regular pudding mix (Jello 113 gr. box). I also subbed butter milk for the milk, for extra tang and just used well drained plain yogurt (did not have Greek on hand). Even with these changes the cupcakes were perfect. My husband will be putty in my hands when he tries these!! Great recipe for Valentine's Day. Thank you. Love this website!!

Gina, it's recipes like this that keep me loyal to SkinnyTaste. I've followed several other "big blogs" and eventually unsubscribed. Your recipes are healthier, which I could certainly use more of, made from scratch, which is the only way I cook, and always beautiful. I don't necessarily get along well with cake, mostly because I never seem to made anything more than a brick.

I am going to make both of these cakes soon. Mr.Sweet Butter is a big cake man, his preferred dessert and in this, I fail. Here's to another go at it, with confidence.

I don't drink coffee, but I do have espresso powder from King Arthur Flour that I use in another chocolate cake recipe that makes the same size cake as this recipe. Would mixing 1 teaspoon of espresso powder with 1 cup of hot water have the same affect?

I made this chocolate cake for Valentine's day and it is THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE I'VE EVER HAD!! So moist and yummy! I'm making another 9x13 cake for my little guy's 4th birthday tomorrow AND a batch to make 24 cupcakes for the party the following day. Thank you for such an amazing recipe! I'm a HUUUUUGE FAN!

Ok, I'm starting to become addicted to your blog. Seriously, I have made several things now and they have all been so good. I made this cake tonight and it.was.amazing. I even forgot the pudding part and it turned out awesome. I couldn't believe how moist it was. I actually cheated a little and used your icing recipe from the snowman cupcakes and drizzled it all over. Thanks so much for sharing your delicious recipes!!! I will be making this again and again!

I made this tonight and it was so good. I used Dark chocolate powder instead of regular cocoa powder, and used King Arthur's gluten free flour mix and it came out great. Even when I had to take out out of the oven for a couple minutes when it overspilled and we had to clean the oven, after i put it back it still rose beautifully.

This cake has become a household favorite for birthdays and all other holidays. I've made extra and frozen (cupcakes) for a few days and they defrosted wonderfully. Would a cake freeze well for a couple of months?

I made this cake as a birthday cake for my husband and he loved it! I did two 9" rounds and stacked them. For the cake I substituted part whole wheat and part all purpose flour with added cornstarch in place of the cake flour. I also substituted Truvia baking blend for half of the sugar. For frosting I used fat free cool whip and mixed in another box of jello pudding mix as well as some sugar free chocolate syrup and cocoa powder, it ended up making a super chocolatey partner for the cake.

I also put a portion of the cake in the freezer to eat at a later date. That later date ended up being just four days after his birthday. It defrosted great in the microwave, he didn't want to wait for it to thaw!

He is already looking forward to another occasion for me to make this cake. Thank you for the fantastic recipe Gina!

Hi, I live in Singapore and we only get sweetened apple sauce here (these are the brands https://www.coldstorage.com.sg/onlineshopping/browse-brand.aspx?Search=apple%20sauce ) , could you recommend how much sugar I should remove from the recipe?